This Sunday’s message was from Nehemiah, Chapter 12.
Getting to Know You
What’s your idea of a musical extravaganza? Half-time at the Super Bowl? 100-piece orchestra? Jazz band? Mormon Tabernacle choir? Rock the Desert?
How do you express your joy when you finish a project? What’s your favorite way of celebrating? What styles of worship have you experienced?
Be prepared to share your experience if you have ever climbed the walls of a city, or on top of a city wall.
Digging Deeper
- What specific actions did the priests, Levites, and singers take?
- What was the purpose of the procession? Who was included in each group? Who led each group? How is this different from chapter 1 when Nehemiah circled the city at night?
- If you were there, what would you see, hear, feel, smell, touch?
- What steps of appreciation do the people take to ensure that those who serve at the temple are cared for?
- Scanning the book of Nehemiah, what themes do you pick up? What/Who stands in the way of the rebuilding of the wall?
- Can you recall a time when a project was so big that it could be completed only with the help of God? Was the rebuilding of the wall more of God’s doing—or of Nehemiah’s doing?
- Ezra and Nehemiah are together one story. See Nehemiah 8:1 What was the impact of hearing the scriptures read from the Books of Moses?
Take it Home.
What situation/experience/event are you celebrating today?
What “mood” do you bring to our worship services? Would it be good to have more of that kind of a “mood”?—or less?
When you attend worship this week, look for elements in the service that express praise to God.
What is God calling you to lead for His people?
